Untitled
by Birdboy
Summary: Interesting things always happened to Taichi when it snowed. Slightly crackish, written for the livejournal community digimonexchange.


It is not all that common for a blizzard to hit the city of Tokyo – but for all the havoc it caused, Yagami Taichi found it simply a welcome surprise.

Sure, outside it meant freezing temperatures, stalled cars, trudging through a foot of snow just to walk. Yeah, it was winter, and as much as he scanned the skies there wasn't an aurora in sight. But as far as Taichi was concerned, from the comfort of his heated apartment… it was still a pleasant reminder of the digital world.

It wasn't just the gate, either. Back when he had been split from the others by Devimon… Sure, he had fought with Yamato, but he got to know him better as well; it had laid the roots of such a powerful friendship. And since even in Japan, school can not be held when the ways to get there were **this** clogged with snow, it also meant he'd have time to see them again.

Yamato. Friendship. If that was all… Much as he tried to hide it and just let go, the other chosen still always seemed to notice a certain bit of envy springing up whenever Yamato and Sora were together.

It was also the case that _which_ of the two he was jealous of was a matter of sharp dispute – and to make matters worse, he hadn't figured it out himself. In addition, there sprung a pang of regret and a touch of weakness regarding his trait; how the heck could he hold courage when he feared rejection too much to even ask one question of the one he loved?

Taichi sighed at this line of thought. It was snowing, snow was fun, and angst was Yamato's job (or Ken's) anyway, not his. And while he walked out the apartment lobby's door, he swore to at least enjoy the post-blizzard day.

As he clumped a ball of snow into his hand, then fired it at the excited, swift-running and now distant Agumon; as the lizard turned back, cried "Baby flame!" and incinerated the snowball, it didn't seem like he'd have any trouble.

The layout of Odaiba, like that of most of Japan, with its huge apartment buildings (Great for aerial attacks, if anyone had the aim and could avoid **really** hurting someone with the whole gravity issue, true. But not useful otherwise,) and urban lack of large chunks of newly snow-covered grass, is not particularly conducive to a snowball fight.

On the other hand, Yamato saw Taichi clearly focused on Agumon, and he hadn't one-upped the gogglehead in a _long_ time.

A long time. What could he call himself better at, rolling up into a ball of angst? Taichi lead them, Taichi would've been a better brother for Takeru, Taichi was the only good reason the dark masters were dead, Taichi was rightfully revered for his heroism by human and digimon alike.

What did he have, Sora's love? As if it was him, not Sora, that earned his longing envy as the successful romantic rival… This line of thought would probably turn angsty, which may indeed have suited him, but he did not particularly desire for Gabumon to bite his leg.

Such were his thoughts as the icy projectile caught the back of Taichi's neck.

"Taichi-kun," He began, peering at his friend's surprised, snow-covered face, "You suck at dodging."

"You just caught me off-guard. You should know better than to think you can take down the great Taichi Yagami! Snowball assault!"

"Baby flame!" Fireball hit snowball in mid-air, the two merging into a ball of water, which soon soaked the blond boy's face. The ball hit the bishounen, gravely damaging his normally gelled-up, spiky hair; in its place a straight, wet, and wholly un-Yamato style was now covering his head.

"That… does it." Yamato said, shooting Taichi a look of pure, deadly annoyance. "**No one **messes with my hair."

His hands swirled like windmills, grabbing fistfuls of snow and throwing them in the same motion, launching a barrage at the hapless, nearly-beaten leader – a barrage even Agumon could do nothing against. Taichi tried to stand his ground, putting up a hand in defense, only to soon realize he _wasn't getting hit._

"Angemon, be careful!" A desperate cry against an evil digimon from a young child, or his much older self warning to stay out of a snowball fight; the request was so similar, but so were the results. The call went unheeded once more; Angemon took the full force of the attack, getting knocked out of the sky.

And into the snow, which remained caught between his wings as he stood up, along with way too much white on his robes and a distinct feeling this was **not** what was meant by the term 'snow angel.'

For their part – taking the angel's wounds as a sign to stop the violence, Taichi and Yamato quickly made peace in their snowball fight. At the same time, Sora rushed out in search of the commotion, but found instead a truce and her two closest friends.

She glanced at the two, tempted to face-palm and ask just **what** they had gotten themselves into. But when she actually thought about it, whatever it was… she'd rather tag along.

Despite their ongoing relationship, Sora and Yamato had done their best to avoid calling attention to anything between the two, and made a solid effort to make their friends not feel like third wheels, but to keep things as they were. In spite of this, Taichi still couldn't help but notice their loving glances and attempts at secret hand-holding, and his envy was growing all the same.

More to the point, there was the matter of where to go. Sora had cheerfully thought of ice cream, which _seemed_ like a reasonable suggestion, but the sudden look of tragedy Yamato and Gabumon answered her idea with quickly dissuaded her. (Taichi, for his part, mentioned being icy enough already.) So ice cream was out. Tokyo had many entertainments, admittedly, so it shouldn't have been difficult.

But they were, with a couple exceptions, closed from the storm... they just couldn't think of anything.

Such were their thoughts as the six of them were picked up and flung a great distance by a startlingly powerful gust of wind. But as the snow hit their eyes and they found themselves in some distant, yet equally snowy land, that entire topic became quickly forgotten.

"Where are we?" Agumon asked, shivering as he pulled his head out of the snowbank, the last to recover from the odd, undesired journey.

"All we really know is that there's no one within range of Piyomon's eyes or Gabumon's nose, it's even snowier here, and we're a long way from Odaiba." Sora answered, desperately trying to make her worries not reach her voice.

"_I don't even know if this is Earth or the Digital World, or if it's a safe part of either... Taichi, Yamato, and Piyomon are with me, and we've beaten every challenge before, but I'm still scared.."_

Taichi shrugged. "Last time we got lost, we spent **way** too much time looking for a way home. Let's set up camp and try to have a good time."

While the suggestion was good enough, the concepts of igloo design had been lost on the two male chosen there, who eschewed hotheaded argument (for once) in favor of building an igloo from handfuls of snow. Were Koushiro there, he would've probably remarked on how it was a miracle it survived through construction. Instead, it collapsed seconds later, when, on Taichi's orders, Agumon tried to start a fire to heat it up. (Thankfully, they pulled him out before he suffocated in the igloo's ruins.)

"Okay, that didn't work." Yamato commented, stating the obvious.

Taichi stayed silent for a moment, scanning his eyes across the boring landscape, then pointing to the lowest point he could see. "Agumon, fireball the snow here!"

"Help him out, Gabumon!"

After a few cries of "baby flame" and "petit fire," a large chunk of the frozen area had become a crater that would seem like the perfect place to build shelter, were it not full of water from the melted snow. But while their actual _plans _were defeated, Agumon had misfired badly on one of his attacks, and this proved a stroke of luck.

Instead of growing the crater, the fireball flew into the vast expanse and crashed into a mountainside. After a slight(yet harmless, the mountain was utterly uninhabited) avalanche, they could all see a now-exposed, decent-sized cave; the perfect shelter, far better than any they could build.

"Well... that solves it, I guess."

Hours had passed, and the frostbitten chosen children had gradually settled into their role, alternately exploring and staying back. They were thankful for the cache of food they had found in their new shelter, but at the same time, they tried not to think too hard of just who put it there or what it was.

All they could tell was that it was too big for humans to have been the ones catching it. Admittedly, this had some disturbing implications, but it also meant they'd have food for a long, long time.

Long enough to get out of there? All they could do was hope. But they had the shelter, each of them could say they had at least their three closest friends in both worlds with them... at least they shouldn't be bored.

Shouldn't. Ordinarily, they had much to discuss. Ordinarily, just facing a challenge together, any challenge, would only add to their happiness and strengthen their friendship. Ordinarily. But while the snow did fall in the right season this time around, the day was still hardly ordinary.

One of them was always looking for a way out, but this was probably for the best -- the three of them together ended up producing nothing but awkward silences.

But when Taichi left, there was a solid love; when Sora left, a world-saving friendship, not torn apart even with jealousy. When Yamato left with Gabumon, when Agumon and Piyomon were sleeping to conserve energy in the cold, when Taichi and Sora were together in some distant cave, with no one else around...

"Taichi?"

"Yes?"

"You haven't said anything for at least twenty minutes." Sora pointed out.

"I was thinking, okay?" Taichi's response, somewhat annoyed.

"Thinking of what?"

"None of your business."

Sora pondered, trying to remember the last time he was this cold to her. Admittedly, she had been prying, but even still... "It's about Yamato and me, isn't it?"

The once-courageous gogglehead nodded slowly, nervously, but there was no point in hiding it any longer.

"I could tell. Taichi-kun... you're important to both of us. Even if we are dating, it's not like you're a third wheel or anything, don't get so beaten up about it."

"I know." he answered, sadness creeping into his voice. "Bu--"

"Yamato deserves to know how you feel."

"Like he doesn't? It's hardly a secret I was infatuated with you back then, I'm sure he realizes..."

Sora shook her head in response, moving it slowly from side to side, Taichi easily getting the message. _"That's not what I meant."_

"How did you know?"

"Crest of love, remember?"

"Right. I'll get going... and thanks."

Taichi ran desperately through the snow, going in the direction he had last seen Yamato, shielding his eyes with his arm as a new burst of white fell from the sky. And as the snow whipped by his ears and made even his sprinting body shiver as he ran, he came to a realization.

Yamato and Sora... he was jealous, of both of them. The closeness of their deepening friendship turned to romance, he'd love to have that with anyone. But it wasn't just that. Foolish and selfish though the feelings were... he was jealous of Yamato for dating Sora, and jealous of Sora for dating Yamato.

He cared for both of them, even loved both of them too; even if he had kissed Catherine so soon after their dating was announced, he was only trying to forget. And he feared this awkwardness would never end, not unless he moved beyond those feelings – which he simply was unable to do.

So there he was in the new blizzard, just a sad boy in snow. He sensed that there was a cliché in there somewhere, but he wasn't the right gender to activate it. And with the snow blocking so much of his vision, he seemed no closer to finding Yamato than ever.

So his life would also end in snow.

He noticed a warm hand gripping his own, a warmth so contrasted with the snow... death's, he presumed, he had been out there a **long** time, and it was a **very** cold day. Still, in this depth of snow, any warmth was valuable – so his left hand desperately squeezed it.

Yamato laughed. "You didn't even need an excuse this time."

To describe Taichi's reaction as one of shock would be a massive understatement. Once his head had recovered from the surprise and shock of it all, he blushed profusely, then let go of his best friend's hand. "I'm freezing here. It was just for warmth."

"Yeah."

"We don't all wear turtlenecks in summer."

"It was snowing. Besides, a kiss would warm you up too." Yamato answered, smirking, glad he had grabbed his leader's hand.

"No it wouldn't." Taichi answered reflexively, and instantly smacked himself mentally for that disagreement. Sure, he was _right,_ but even still.

The two of them looked nervously at each other, both looking for their excuse. They spent a few seconds continuing with that look, hearing human footsteps behind them.

And then, each unable to resist any longer, the two simultaneously brought their lips together, kissing deeply, as Sora watched her 'small, reverse harem' of sorts make out in the distance.

A portal suddenly opened up in their former hideout, which each of the chosen claimed credit for; Taichi spoke of needing great courage to kiss Yamato, Yamato of friendship between men, Sora of love. They walked back into the cave-turned-portal, and as Yamato and Sora asked Taichi out on a three-way date(which he gratefully accepted) he could only conclude that the best days were always those with snow on the ground.


End file.
